Luna stared at the screen, unblinking, with the utmost attention. Buck, buck, horn jab, levitation slam, buck, and the defending pegasus mare was at her end, she tried a feather shot, but it was evaded and met with a game-ending horn jab.
“FINISH HER!”
A quick complex button combo later the pegasus mare, who was hovering in a daze, suddenly reverted to a newborn foal as she fell to the ground and began to cry.
“FOALTALITY, SUNDROPS WINS!”
The crowd broke into thunderous applause and Luna gladly joined in. Though she wished she could have competed this time, she was the one who was running it this time. Although all the players were spectacular, the winner was a fiery little bunny registered as Angel. He had been escorted in by the last pony you would expect to see in an arcade, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, who flinched at every unseen sound. If Luna recalled correctly she had been the bearer of the element of kindness. After she signed the bunny’s name she went over to a corner and hid, and it was there she remained even now.
Luna retrieved the plaque that had been made off the counter and awarded the spoils to the tournament's victor. He quickly took it, retrieved his companion, and the pair left in haste.
The crowd was quick to dispel and soon Luna was left alone, or so she thought. A rustling near the tournament's machine grabbed her attention.
“Pony feathers! It’s just not fair; he always beats me in the finals. I understand why magic is banned in these tournaments but he has small, swift paws. Not these big, bulky hoofs like the rest of us. I swear I could beat him if he was a pony!”
The voice surprised Luna as she was sure everyone was gone. Looking around she saw the aquamarine unicorn that had come in second place was seated, head hung low, with her back to the machine, muttering to herself. Luna made her way over to the upset mare, planning to explain she needed to close up. She stood over the unicorn for close to five minutes before her presence was even noticed.
When the unicorn finally looked up she gave one last exasperated sigh.
“I bet you need me to leave so you can close up. Sorry about that, I’ve been to nine tournaments this year and it’s always the same deal. That bunny shows up and we go at it in the final round. I just let it get the best of me this time. I’m Lyra by the way, and now that I know this place is open again you can expect me in here to practice every day for next months ‘Baltimare Brawl.’ I best get out of your mane though, thanks for hosting this by the way.”
She drooped her ears and made for the exit. She headed toward the door with as much haste as a distraught pony can. Just as she was about to push open the door, the game's music started and an aura of royal blue magic was locking the exit.
“I’m sorry I didn’t quite make...” The rest of her sentence was cut off.
“We didn’t get a chance to play in the tournament ourselves but it would be an honor to play against the runner-up. Besides, we need to practice up if we’re going to take top prizes in Baltimare.” Luna remarked casually as she decided on a fighter.
Lyra’s face broke into a huge grin and in a second she was back in position at the machine ready to take on this new challenger.
The two played nonstop until nearly two in the morning. Lyra was good. Well, good was a bit of an understatement, she was fantastic! Luna never managed a single K.O. in all the rounds they played, although she managed to get a little closer every time. It was a bit devastating at first to realize she wasn’t as good as she had thought, but it only made her more determined to win.
It was nearing three in the morning when they noticed just how late it had gotten. Lyra decided it best to head home as she had work in the morning. The arcade was closed for the day so Luna would be able to sleep in, but she bid her new friend farewell in understanding.
Luna unlocked the door so Lyra could leave. When she was sure the unicorn was gone she locked the place back up. Her next task was to clean up that huge mess the tournament goers had made. Few of them had bothered to pick up after themselves. Most of the tables were littered with empty cups and leftover snacks ponies had brought and left behind.
When everything was back in order she went back to the machine to play one last game before going to bed herself. When she got to the character select something hit her, in all her battles with Lyra no matter which character Luna went with, Lyra always selected the same pegasus she had used during the tournament. In a tournament you registered with a charter and were required to use them all the way through, this was so people wouldn’t waste time trying to make sure their fighter was the perfect counter to the opponents. This wasn’t the case when she played with Luna as she could use anyone she wanted; her choice never changed and that’s when it hit her. The best players mastered one character instead of becoming a “jack of all trades” so to speak. She was determined to pick a character and then dedicate her practice to that fighter alone. Luna went through each pony on the roster several times. She was about to give up when she accidentally bumped the random fighter button. The match started and she was playing as a pony she hadn’t used before.
Scarlett Scales was a unique fighter for sure. She was a reptilian pony hybrid with red scales, as her name suggested. Her hoofs had claws on them and she could spit poison as her special attack. Luna got a feel for the character rather easily and found she quite liked how Scarlet played. Luna had found her character. She made quicker work of the arcade mode than usual and was quite pleased with herself. After she finished she shut the game off and made her way to bed.
Before curling up and going to sleep, Luna gathered her writing supplies and scribbled a note to her sister.
Dearest Sister,
Today was the day when the arcade held our Pony Kombat Tournament, we had sixteen competitors it was quite exciting. We do wish we could have partaken but there will be time for that later. We did make a new friend in one of the competitors; she was the runner up in fact. She stayed late and played close to forty matches but we lost them all. But it seems this was a good thing though because we learned it is best to master a single character since each player can only use one character in a tournament setting.
The new friend is the main reason we’re writing though. We would like to request an additional invitation for your dinner party next week. Vinyl and Octavia are extremely excited but we would hate to exclude our newest friend. We understand if it’s too late for you to change the arrangements but do let us know so we can give her a chance to prepare for it.
Love Your Sister
Princess Luna Goddess of the Night